What’s in a name?

Two weeks ago, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) announced a huge victory for transgender rights: the Social Security Administration (SSA) would no longer verify gender with work records provided by employers. Before this victory, transgender people with inconsistent gender markers between work and SSA records often resulted in SSA sending “gender no-match” letters to employers, outing transgender people in potentially unsafe workplaces. Last year alone, SSA sent out over 700,000 gender no-match letters with their SSNVS system. And today, with this one minor change, transgender people can feel safe that SSA won’t put their jobs at risk.

But my euphoria faded quickly after an NCTE member replied to the announcement with this:

Given the name of the communications manager, I would like to confirm the citizenship status of Vincent Paolo Villano. I hope NCTE would not knowingly hire an illegal or the offspring of illegals. I also hope that NCTE validates the citizenship status of all their employees. If not, to either case, then I will be reconsidering my support and membership.